Oct 22, 2017

Its been a while but finally i had some more modifications done to my 200. Im no longer the guy who can crawl under cars and do the stuff i want, so it falls to the after market mobs and the one who has been responsible for my build up is Ultimate 4WD in Bibra Lake WA. The Outback Accessories Rear Bar and Dual wheel carriers, i choose OA because i liked the strength of the one piece bar and the ease of removing a carrier if i want to only run around with one. The LED lights and tow points built in are also a neat feature.

I have been quite happy with the Cruisers quiet cruising mode and did not want to ruin that with a loud exhaust but i did want something that breathed better than the stock exhaust. Plus if i was going to pay thousands of dollars for a pipe i wanted it to be the best pipe i could get, so i went for the Genie Legendex stainless steel twin 3" to a single 3.5" tail pipe. It fits extremely well tucked up higher than the factory exhaust, all mounts are solidly built, the dump pipes are ceramic coated. It has a nice burble under a light throttle and a grunty sound under accelleration.

ARB Frontier 185lt long range poly tank, ive had a Long Ranger steel tank on a previous Cruiser but this time i went for the poly tank, i believe it is just as strong as the steel without any future problems of rust or cracking plus its around 30kg lighter. It fits up nice and high and no worries about losing ground clearance. The other benefit i am told is they fill faster with a better breather system than the smaller factory sub tank. My only criticism is they don't come with a drain plug.

A new 12v platform was fitted to replace the one i had due to the build requiring more fuse holders and circuit breakers fitted, this also meant the HPD catch can had to be moved slightly to a new accessible position. I also had a set of Kevlar protective covers fitted to the rear airbag.

Lights were another addition, i did experiment by buying a set of Illuminator LED lights but they were not going to fit on the Sahara Bar with hoop so i sold them on. Having had HID lights on my 79 series and knowing how great they light up the road i was keen to have another set, i choose the Lighforce Genesis 50w HID lights for the bullbar along with a Lightforce 40" LED dual watt single row light bar fitted to the Rhino rack, at the rear i have a 10" lightforce LED light bar for reversing and lightening up the campsite. Inside the tailgate i have had a Lighforce flush mounted LED light fitted into the top section of the tailgate, this puts out a tremendous amount of light which will be great for camping and fishing.

Jun 29, 2017

Jun 14, 2017

Another visit to South Lefroy Bay, Ningaloo Homestead has been and gone. This year the Billy's had their new JB Scorpion off road caravan and GX 200 series TTD, It sure was a change from the Jayco Swan and 100 series they had for many years.

On the road north

Billys new rig

Ningaloo Homestead

The Ningaloo Road, recently graded

Ningaloo Homestead, 1st port of call when arriving

We had our usual camp sites and arrived when the weather was hot, we got the vans positioned, awnings out and hit the water for our 1st of many swims to keep cool. The next few days were spent getting our camps finished with plenty of shade walls and floors.

Never get tired of the sunsets

Full moon

Kayaks off, fishing rods set up and we were ready for our stay. I had a slow start on the squid but by week two I was pulling in an average of 6 a day for the next two weeks. Vickie & Dave started to get in on the act and catch them as well, we had more than we needed so started sharing them with other campers.

One mornings effort

Another day

Calamari YUM

Another day we went for a drive over the
dunes for Dave and Brett to get more experience with their 200
series Landcruiser's and the girls to do some Beach fossicking.

Boys and their toys

Girls with the boys toys

Brett getting ready for the hill

Brett looking relaxed

I'm the King of the Castle

Gamma Hole on the track to Yardie Creek

Maybe this time?

We took our Kayaks up to Yardie Creek with some other campers we
know and had a lovely time paddling and peddling up the gorge spotting
rock wallaby's and birds.

Rock Wallaby

We didn't go hungry

Billys Fish and Chips

Our Roast Lamb night

The weather was lovely for the first month, our daily routine can become very similar and Vickie had enough by then and she flew home to spend time with our eldest granddaughters. I had a mate coming across from Victoria for a couple of weeks, Mal has visited Ningaloo with us a couple of times before with his wife Lynne but this time it was a solo trip to test out his new Camper trailer.

Mally and Mick

During his time with me we Beach fished most days and nights but our catch was dismal to say the least, a few shovel nose rays, some thread fin salmon, a spangled emperor and giant Trevally and some unstoppable sharks. With news reaching Mal that his wife wasn't well and me with my mojo struggling we choose to pull the pin early. It was a disappointing end to our stay but family comes first.

I'll admit that i am starting to lose interest in updating our blog via the clunky blogger on laptop, I have tried using my iPad with the blogger app and its not as simple to upload photos, i have started to use Face Book for any NIKNOFF updates so if your a face book user and you want to check it out just do a search for NIKNOFF Facebook ...Until next time, Safe Travels